Top 5 Restaurant Apps

It’s happened to most of us at some point – you’re cruising around with some friends when someone mentions that they’re hungry, so you all decide it’s time to grab a bite, but nobody knows what restaurants nearby are good. That’s when everyone starts taking out their phones to do some research.

In that situation, it helps if you already have some of the best restaurant-related apps on your phone. However, that’s not the easiest thing, since there is so much competition in the market today.

So here is our list of the top five restaurant apps to help you out:

Yelp – Perhaps the app that started the restaurant review revolution, Yelp is one of the easiest and most popular ways to find a good place near you. The app relies solely on user ratings from its huge community of reviewers to reveal the best restaurants nearby.

Google Places – Google is already the go-to place for a lot of things, from basic web searching and email to documents and chatting, so why not reviews of restaurants and other public places? The app uses a combination of what Google already knows about a restaurant and user reviews to find nearby places that you might be interested in.

Foursquare – What started out as simply a way to share where you are by “checking in” to local places, foursquare is now a place to find exactly what you’re looking for. This app recommends nearby places based on your past experiences and reviews from friends and strangers. It also allows you to search for a particular type of food so you can satisfy your craving.

Urbanspoon – If you’re feeling adventurous, you can shake your phone to have this app select a random restaurant for you. It also offers nearby restaurant recommendations based on location, price, or type of food, along with user reviews so you know what to expect.

OpenTable – In addition to unveiling restaurants based on name, location, price, or type of food OpenTable also allows you to make a reservation within the app, so you don’t ever have to call a restaurant. The app also lets you earn Dining Points, which you can redeem for Dining Cheques at certain locations.

If you still want more options for unveiling some of the best restaurants, check out Foodspotting, a newer app that lets users post pictures of their favorite dishes; LocalEats, which focuses only on local cafes and restaurants; or Groupon, which gives you instant deals for nearby restaurants.

With any or all of these apps downloaded to your phone, you should be able to easily and efficiently find a great restaurant the next time you’re in a bind or decide on a spontaneous outing.